


Chores

by bell (bellaboo)



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 02:53:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5480585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellaboo/pseuds/bell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Obi-Wan handed him his laundry, Anakin had stared, wordlessly, at the pile in his arms. These Jedi things just got weirder and weirder. Recognizing Anakin's silence as confusion, Obi-Wan explained: "It's traditional for Padawans to do their Master's laundry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chores

Once a week Anakin does battle with Obi-Wan's clothing.

The coarse, thick, and somewhat scratchy brown cloth is stubbornly impervious. Great for staying dry longer (though, in those inevitable times when not falling into bodies of water is not an option, wet it and its wearer become), a pain in the ass to clean. Then there is the soap, ineffective as a cleaning agent unless scrubbed vigorously against the cloth with a brush.

The first time Obi-Wan handed him his laundry, Anakin had stared, wordlessly, at the pile in his arms. These Jedi things just got weirder and weirder. Recognizing Anakin's silence as confusion, Obi-Wan explained: "It's traditional for Padawans to do their Master's laundry. I should have had you do this since the beginning, but I thought you had enough to adjust to."

Back then, under the tutelage of a tight-lipped Master he wasn't sure didn't resent him, Anakin didn't know how or to what extent he could rebel. Until he had a better grasp of the system, of what rules were flexible and which ones not, better to meekly obey everything. 

"Yes, Master," he said as evenly as he could, careful to not betray what revulsion this filled him with.

It was slavery, all over again.

No, worse. As intelligent, mechanic-gifted, droid-sympathetic Anakin Skywalker, he had never had to stoop to such low menial tasks. He was far too valuable for that. Yes, if you can assign different values to beings under bondage, then laundry was low on that list. On Tatooine it wasn't even a task for slaves, no cleaning was; water being scarce, best leave the cleaning to droids, who could brush off the sand and disinfect surfaces without wasting the precious commodity.

He read on the database how to do laundry: it required soap, bucket, water, a basin, and a place to hang them dry. All these things he found in their quarters (the soap box reaching its final third; how to replenish?). Dunk the clothes into a bucket filled with soap and water, scrub where stains persisted, allow to soak; rinse, making sure that all the soap has been removed. 

The instructions made it sound so easy. Barbaric, even, a ritual that should be banned from Coruscant and limited only to the Outer Rim planets. As it turned out, barbaric tradition or not, it required more skill than Anakin gave it credit. Though already adept at lightsaber dueling, his fine-tuned, Force-enhanced motor skills were not enough to keep him from spilling the bucket, and its sudsy contents, all over himself. After that, well, it was war. Anakin Skywalker (Jedi in Training) vs. Obi-Wan's Robes (Long-Time Dresser of Jedi). There was no clear victory, as defining victory is difficult when one side is an inanimate object, but clean and dry the clothes did become. And having turned this from an issue of slavery into one more battle to conquer, Anakin's resentment became competitiveness.

Afterwards (and after drying himself off), Anakin left the done laundry on Obi-Wan's bed. As he heard neither complaint nor comment, Anakin assumed the clothes were clean enough. A week later Obi-Wan handed him the pile, dirtied anew, and Anakin cleaned them once more. Thus the ritual began. 

By now this is so routine, so ordinary, that Anakin barely thinks of what he's doing, it is an excuse to let his mind wander to pleasanter topics, like Padmé and Padmé and some more Padmé (Padmé is a surprisingly inexhaustible topic of contemplation. As many outfits of Padmé there are, there are at least that many approaches to the subject). Out of all his chores, from sweeping the floors to making their beds, this is his favorite. 

Once he's done with the brown robes, Anakin moves onto the white gi. Caring for these is different, they are far more susceptible to cleansing processes; then again, they are far more receptive to stains and the like. Despite Obi-Wan being a careful eater sometimes there'll be sauce-traces to scrub off, and the armpit area always needs extra attention (there is no avoiding sweat, sweat is a part of the active Jedi life). Luckily the gi don't get as dirty as they might, since they are mostly covered by the brown robes. 

Blood on the white is always the hardest to deal with. Cold water, not hot, and long soaking periods, followed by scrubbing. Sometimes the blood won't come out, and that is one more outfit that has to be thrown out. It is more than the procedures that makes it difficult, though; Anakin dislikes the reminders that his Master is human, and more to the point, mortal. He thinks Obi-Wan to be the wisest and most able of all the Jedi, but he knows that there is plenty out there capable and willing to hurt him. Obi-Wan is good, but he's not good enough. The brown patches is a reminder to Anakin as to why he must become stronger.

As for his own clothes, Anakin lets the droids clean them.

 

~ e x t r a ~

"Say, Anakin?"

"Yes, Master?"

"How do you get these gi so white?" Obi-Wan held up one of the robes Anakin had cleaned that day.

"Um, I use bleach."

"Bleach." Obi-Wan shook his head. "Of course."

"Didn't you know? I mean, you said that you used to wash Qui-Gon's clothes."

"I did-- wash his clothes, that is. But I never used bleach. They didn't teach us how to do house chores when we were younglings, so I made do with what was in the cupboard, and Qui-Gon, he didn't have any bleach stored. I don't know if you remember, but his gi was... not quite white. It was beige. Kind of greyish. I always wished I could present him better to the galaxy."

"You think he cared?"

"No, I doubt he even noticed. But I did."


End file.
